


sleep now (under my skin)

by sirius_bucky_solo



Series: all the warm comforts of home [2]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst with a Happy Ending, Battle of Five Armies Fix-It, Everyone Needs A Hug, Fluff, Gen, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, M/M, Post-Battle of Five Armies, Sibling Incest, ngl still super bitter about fili being hella neglected esp in botfa????????, theres a bit of that here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:01:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22332307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sirius_bucky_solo/pseuds/sirius_bucky_solo
Summary: the crown prince wakes after the Battle of Five Armies is over - he's not doing great. enter auntie Bilbo to the rescue.
Relationships: Bilbo Baggins & Fíli, Bilbo Baggins & Fíli & Kíli, Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield (mentioned), Fíli/Kíli (Tolkien)
Series: all the warm comforts of home [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1539463
Comments: 16
Kudos: 136





	sleep now (under my skin)

**Author's Note:**

> part 2 of this series :)  
> this one focuses way more on Fíli this time, because ? he deserves some love that he did not receive in canon ? im bitter.
> 
> anyways, enjoy <3
> 
> title taken from Matt Corby's Brother  
> (as always, beta'd by the ever-wonderful Crying101)

Fíli blinked his eyes open, wincing as the flickering lantern’s flame assaulted his shaky senses. With a warrior’s discipline, he forced himself to remain still, assessing his injuries. He ached all over, but he was warm. Kíli lay against him, a comforting weight despite a wayward elbow digging into a particularly painful bruise on his stomach. Unruly brown hair tickled his nose - he fought back a sneeze. Had they won? 

The prince figured he and his brother were still alive, so they were off to an admittedly pretty good start. Fíli could still remember the ground-shaking terror he’d felt at seeing Kee stride over to their uncle, looking every inch the righteous royal he so seldom acted. Could still remember how it worsened when Thorin pressed their foreheads together, when they charged onto the battlefield. He hadn’t been able to kiss his One before they’d raced headfirst into a battle the likes of which they’d never seen before. 

Of course, he knew Kee knew he loved him. It still would have been nice if Fíli could have told him once more. Nevermind that Uncle and he hadn’t spoken, clasped forearms, anything. It was fine, though, Fíli was fine. Really. 

Mouth twisting as he tried to shake himself out of self-pity, he fell back on a habit from dwarrow days, and caught one of his moustache braids between his teeth. He promptly released it with a grimace of disgust - evidently he’d not been unconscious for long enough to be washed after the fight. 

Kíli! Embarrassed that his moments awake had been spent steeping in bitterness and grief rather than checking on his One, his baby brother, Fíli lifted his head up slightly, not quite managing to stifle a groan as his plethora of injuries throbbed in unison.

He let out a slow breath. Striking features marred by a deep, jagged cut, an archer’s muscled arm carefully folded into a sling, and - oh, _lukhudel_. A strong hand, that had supported, caressed, protected his big brother, now with two fingers less. In his mind, Fíli could acknowledge that it wasn’t so bad, and it was true that watching the brunette’s chest rise and fall steadily was proving to be no small measure of comfort. The older brother, the lover in him, though? That part felt as though he’d been swallowed by a dragon. Burning up inside and out from helplessness, feeling it rise up into his throat.

“Fíli?” The soft voice of the prince’s favourite hobbit was prefaced by large, furred feet stopping quietly at his bedside. Fíli looked up into gentle green eyes and a wet face weary from all it had seen, though no less a reassuring sight for it. “You’re awake!” Bilbo’s oft-smirking lips turned up into a true smile, and he reached out a hand to place against the dwarf’s cheek.

“A-auntie Bilbo?” Fíli’s voice was a raspy whisper, strained from lack of use and the background humming of his wounds. “You came back?” The hobbit’s eyes closed, and he screwed up his face before opening them and pasting his ‘oh, sweetheart’ expression on.

“Of course I came back, little lion, I had to make sure my favourite boys were alright.” At that, Fíli’s throat, which had already seen better days, seemed to tighten until it closed completely. Oh. He’d. _Oh_.

To his horror, the tears that had been threatening his composure since he’d inspected Kíli returned with a vengeance, spilling in hot trails down his face. His eyes widened. Now, really? Fíli opened his mouth, tried to apologise, but all that came out was a choking sob. Bilbo eyed the cot the two princes lay on, assessing. 

Then, nodding to himself, he hoisted himself up onto it, careful not to disturb the peaceful Kíli - whose only movements thus far had been nuzzling into his brother’s neck, pressing impossibly closer at the sound of Fíli’s upset. Gently, the hobbit moved around until the older prince lay with his head pillowed on too-big man-made trousers. Small hands settled in blond hair, beginning to unravel the tangled braids. 

“Oh, my sweet boy, it’s alright now. I’m here, we’re all going to be okay. Our company has survived, your brother, your uncle...we will recover from this.” Fíli twisted his neck slightly until he could press his damp face into the hobbit’s stomach, every sob sending a renewed whisper of agony through his injured shoulder.

Fíli tried to speak, to reassure the wonderful hobbit that his honorary nephew had not just regressed to a tiny dwarfling hiding his face in his mother’s robes. He still couldn’t. His throat was an achy, hot mess, and he flailed a hand out wildly, until it found Kíli’s to clasp. He’d come so close to losing his One. First, with that arrow as they fled Thranduil’s captivity - and Mahal, even thinking of Kee then, of how pale and sweaty he’d been, face pinched with pain but still insisting that he was fine sent ice into his soul. Stupid, _stupid_ Kee, always trying to prove himself a proper dwarf to his people - the fools that mocked his lack of beard, even their uncle when Kíli had admitted to wanting to be an archer.

 _I could have lost him. If I had, I would never have forgiven myself. Nor would our mother._ Idly, he wondered if Kíli still had the runestone from Dis promising his safe return. He vaguely remembered his brother talking about it with that red-haired she-elf, and Fíli thought the two had shared a conversation before the dwarves left for Erebor, amongst all the smoke and destruction. The elder prince’s sobs quieted slightly, though his tears fell endlessly as before.

And hadn’t that been an enjoyable experience for Fíli. Seeing his One fawn all over someone else, an Elf - no less, one of _Thranduil’s_ elves. Mahal. For all they knew, she may have even been one of those who refused to help them when Smaug first invaded. He knew he was being unreasonable, but Kíli had never been...sociable... like that. He’d always stuck close to his big brother, and Fíli had treasured his brother’s adoration, never taking it for granted. The feeling that swallowed him when he was stuck alone in a Greenwood cell, alone and listening to Kíli’s voice as he regaled the she-elf with tales from their youth (stories Fíli knew intimately, for he’d been by his brother’s side - as always), had left him reeling.

“You did it, Fíli. You’ve been so strong, so brave, and it’s over now. Your brother isn’t going anywhere.” At Bilbo’s soft words, the dwarf prince felt not for the first time a surge of respect towards the tiny Hobbit who’d integrated into a pack of unruly dwarves as if he’d always been there - softening and strengthening his uncle and saving his company from predicaments each more ridiculous than the last. 

“Thank you, Auntie Bilbo. Kee and I…well, we’re so happy you came on the quest. That you’re,” Fíli sniffs and finally his tearstained face emerged from where he was hiding in Bilbo’s coat, “still here with us.” The hobbit’s mouth quirked, eyes crinkling with deep affection as he looked down at his self-appointed charge. 

“Of course, Fíli. I’m not going anywhere.”

**Author's Note:**

> hope y'all liked! please kudos & comment if you did, it means a lot (✿◠‿◠)
> 
> feel free to let me know what you'd like to see next ;) I was thinking of a fiki comfort if anyone's interested....


End file.
